John Juanda Takes Down First European Poker Tour Title

Published on August 31st, 2015 9:45 pm EST

1. John Juanda Wins EPT12 Barcelona Main Event.

John Juanda can add another impressive accomplishment to his resume after he took down the EPT12 Barcelona main event on Sunday evening for just over 1 million Euros. This was the first European Poker Tour title of Juanda's career and will go nicely on his mantle along with his six World Series of Poker bracelets.

Juanda entered the final table far behind chip leader Denys Shafikov. Shafikov, who had been dubbed a "lunatic" by some of his fellow players, saw his luck run out on Sunday as he was sent to the rail in fourth place. Juanda didn't take any unnecessary risks during the final table and used his experience and patience to slowly chip up. The final hand of the event came when Juanda and Steve Warburton got all-in pre-flop, with Juanda holding pocket Queens and Warburton holding pocket Eights. The better hand won and Juanda was declared the winner.

Juanda's victory gives him over $17.25 million in total lifetime tournament cashes, which puts him at #9 on the all-time list. Only Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Erik Seidel, Daniel Colman, Phil Ivey, Scott Seiver, Sam Trickett and Phil Hellmuth have cashed for more money than Juanda in "live" poker tournaments.

Juanda noted after the tournament that he hadn't played a single hand of poker over the past twelve months. Clearly the time off paid dividends for the former member of "Team Full Tilt", as he has now joined an exclusive club of people who have won both WSOP and EPT events.

2. Viktor "Isildur1" Blom Up Big.

The online poker world is currently buzzing about Viktor "Isildur1" Blom once again, as "Isildur1" is currently up roughly $2.5 million over the past couple of weeks.

With the high stakes games vanishing from Full Tilt Poker in recent weeks, the epicenter of online high stakes games has moved to Pokerstars. Over the past couple of weeks, Blom has done battle with the likes of "Sauce123" and "WithColor" and has done extremely well for himself, winning millions in the process and captivating railbirds from all across the world. With names like Phil Ivey only playing sporadically online now, the online poker world has relied on "Isildur1" for exciting high stakes action. Blom has come through over the past couple of weeks, adding millions of dollars to his bankroll in the process.

On previous occasions, Blom would see his bankroll rocket higher over a stretch of good days, only to subsequently lose it all over the course of some very painful (and long) sessions. It will be interesting to see whether or not Blom can hold on to his newfound wealth this time around.